Employment
by Crystalas
Summary: Todd goes to work for a old friend he knew, but the more he works the weaker he gets, what is he doing for a living?
1. Chapter 1

For my next fic another Toad story!! I love Toad stories!!

The summary for this one is…someone from Todd's past comes back and after some persuasion gets Todd to work for him, after a few weeks everyone in the Brotherhood house thinks it's brilliant but the more Todd goes to work, the more weaker he seems to get. What is he doing for a living???

**Chapter 1: from the mist of the pasts…**

Todd lay in his favourite tree of the wood, looking out into the park where he was napping. The reason why this was his favourite tree was because there was some flowers underneath it and plenty of bugs would try and get their dinner from it only to become dinner themselves.

"Bugs, sunshine and money from a stolen wallet, life don't get no better than this!" he sighed he looked at one of his stolen watches and gave another sadden sigh. He had to go back to work soon…well what he considered work but besides an old man's wallet there was no one else in the park to steal from! The Brotherhood was facing big money problems and it was Toad's turn to try and get some decent cash for food. Suddenly a man walked past the tree and he saw a wallet practically stuffed with monkey peeking from his back pocket.

He leapt down and sneaked up trying to walk by nipping the wallet out and carry on walking past as if nothing wasn't a miss, he then turned a corner and crouched in some bushes to see his prize.

"Oh yeah baby!" he smiled "I scored big today!"

"That's a coincidence so have I" said a voice, Todd spun around to see the man looked down at him with a cold smile. "I knew if I wandered around here with a big enough wallet you'd come out from your hiding place Todd…or do you call yourself Toad now?" he asked politely, Todd leapt back and stared at him.

"Harold!" he cried "I thought I got rid of you!"

"As I thought I lost you but when I saw you in that ridiculous outfit on the news it lead me here" Harold smiled, Todd gulped nervously he remember seeing a clear shot of himself when he had to look at the News Reel during the Sentinel incident.

"Look Pal you have nothing on me anymore, last time you reeled me off the streets cos I had no where to go, well sorry Harold I have a place now and a family and a home so back off!"

"Now Todd don't talk like that, you know I have nothing but the deepest respect for you" Harold said sadly and Todd scoffed.

"Yeah I got as much respect from you as you had for your cannabis plants!" Todd sneered "I want no more to do with ya and that's final!"

"Very well Todd" he smiled and patted him on the shoulder "Till we meet again"

Todd sat there watching him carefully until he had gone, he then reached into his pocket not only to find Harold's wallet gone but the other one too!

"Aww nuts!"

"TOAD!" Pietro yelled "It was your turn to get money and you screwed up!"

"Sorry I ran into a pro thief" Todd muttered.

"You're an idiot!" he growled and walked past.

"Well now what?" Fred grumbled.

"We'll have to budget somehow" Lance declared "But we're scrimping and saving every penny we find as it is!"

"I say we get rid of dead weight" Pietro exclaimed and walked past the others. "Let's think of this battle wise shall we? Lance can stay as he is the leader and plus his power of earthquakes is useful in battle, I can stay as I'm quickest guy around and plus I can steal a good amount of money and food, Fred can stay as he is the muscle and lets face it he's a good cook and a brilliant distraction when it comes to stealing stuff" he then pointed to Todd.

"Toad…hmm…let's see…he's a crap fighter, crap thief and a crap liar!" Pietro sneered "All he can do is stick to walls, slime stuff and eat bugs…whoa what a power!"

"Hey I was here first Mystique must've seen something in me!" Todd growled.

"Uh huh…where did she find you?" Pietro asked sharply and Todd looked at his feet.

"Ummm…"

"She found you in garbage skip!" Pietro cried "Dude if that doesn't say something I don't know what does!"

"That's not true!" Todd yelled "I am useful"

"Toad I'm gonna put it like this, pull your weight and then some or you'll find yourself on the street again!" Pietro declared just then the doorbell went and Lance got up and went to the door.

"Hi" Lance mumbled.

"Hello is a Mr Tolensky here?" a voice asked.

"Huh?" Lance demanded "Tolensky?" just then it dawned on him "Oh you mean Toad! Hey Toad there's someone to see you!"

"Who?" Todd demanded and then froze when he saw Harold walking into the hallway. He leapt in front of him and snarled.

"Dude you freak you followed me home!" Todd yelled "Well I can tell you know you can fuc…"

"Calm down Todd" Harold smiled and then showed the bags of steaming hot Chinese in his hands "Anyone hungry?"

Slurps, munches and guzzling sounds could be heard as the Brotherhood ate their first decent meal in ages, Harold sat there nibbling on a prawn toast when he finished he looked at Todd and smiled.

"So this is your new home then?"

"Yeah what of it?" Todd snarled.

"Judging by how all of you wolfed down the food and by how cold and damp it is I take it you need money" he smiled and looked at the others.

"No really?" Fred laughed sarcastically.

"Well how about I offer you a job" Harold suggested and they all froze and stared at him.

"What have you got in mind?"

"Oh no not you three what I had in mind was a job for Todd" Harold laughed "You see Todd used to work for me in his younger days I found him on the streets and gave him a profession, however he was found to be a mutant and was chased away, very sad really" he took a bit of his prawn toast and then looked up slyly at Lance.

"You do know he's a mutant? There's so much scandal about it now a days most people freak at just the name"

"Yeah we know and we're also…" lance growled but Todd leapt up and grabbed him, covering his mouth.

"Well aware of how dangerous it is for normal human people to house mutants, you know with all the mutie-haters out there an' all!" Todd exclaimed. He then whispered into Lance's ear.

"He knows I'm one but not you, the less he knows da better!" he whispered.

"Yes well what can we say, we find having a mutant like Todd a really useful" Lance smiled "We don't have any bug problems that's for sure!"

"Indeed" Harold said and then smiled again "I am willing to give Todd a job and I will pay well for it"

"How much?" Pietro asked eagerly.

"Well…"

"I want 50 of whatever profits you make" Todd declared coldly and the other Brotherhood stared at him like he was insane.

"What! Toad he's offering you a job dude this is a miracle alone! Don't waste it" Lance cried.

"Very well" Harold declared "When can you start?"

"ASAP!" Pietro cried "He'll start tomorrow if you want!"

"Brilliant then!" Harold grinned and then stood up and held out his hand to Todd "Bright and early tomorrow then?" Todd led him away from prying ears and glared at him.

"Why are you here?"

"I'll be blunt you have something I need and I've try synthetic and all sorts you're the only one who can provide me with the vital ingredient of what I make" he whispered "Fine, but the only reason why I'm doing this is cos we need money bad"

"See you tomorrow" Harold grinned coldly and left.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: behind the smile…**

"Toad come on you're the breadwinner now, you're the one who brings home the bacon and you go to work dressed like that?" Pietro demanded as Todd walked into the kitchen wearing the same dreary clothes.

"It's not like it's an office job!" Todd grumbled and Fred put a plate of toast in front of him.

"Thanks blob" he smiled and then pushed it away. "I ain't hungry though"

"Oh okay" Fred said looking a little hurt and then looked at Todd "you okay with this? I mean I saw the way you looked when you saw him come in, you looked really angry"

"I don't like him that's all, that guy isn't the sort to care about his employees if you get my drift" Todd muttered and then leapt up and headed for the door "See ya later okay?"

Todd walked into an alleyway he was in the side of Bayville you wouldn't see in the brochure, it was side that every city had but hates to admit. Stinking slums and homeless people were a common sight along with the sort of people who mug you for a quid. Having the police here was like getting a cat to get rid of a barn yard full of rats. To put it blunt there was too much crime and not enough police force.

"And to think…" Todd muttered "I used to call this place home!" he walked up to a dusty old warehouse and knocked on the door.

"Name?" asked a gruffed voice.

"Todd Tolensky" Todd muttered.

"Oh Slime ball, come in" the voice declared and opened the door, inside was a small vat and various other machines and chemical things. What Todd couldn't shake was the horrid stench, it was his smell - the odour of mouldy algae pit on a hot summer's day with a hint of dead frog - but much stronger.

"Todd my boy!" Harold declared "Good to see you"

"I thought you were running out you look full to brim with the stuff" Todd muttered looking around.

"True, true but luckily for me when you ran off with that blue bitch you had already produced enough catalyst for me to make all this, and it's selling like hot cakes!" Harold explained "Which means we have to supply to demand" he grinned and then shoved Todd towards a tray of milk bottles.

"Milk bottles?"

"Yeah the best way to get untraceable bottles, you just put em out on doorsteps and get em back when their all clean!" Harold laughed "And most people think it's just mould or slugs"

"Yeah" Todd laughed weakly.

"Get to work my boy!"

Todd walked over to tray and picked up the first bottle and spat slime into it till it was full, he did this again and again until the whole tray was full. It was about two hours till it was done and Todd slumped back and groaned.

"Good, good!" Harold cackled and then took one of the bottles and poured into the vat, there was a lot of steaming and bubbling when the final concoction trickle slowly out from a tap which filled syringes. Harold picked one up and put a needle and top on it and looked at it with gleaming eyes.

"Let's see if it still has its magic" he laughed and beckoned the door man over, he gave it to him and smiled "Consider it half your payment"

The man smiled and injected it into his arm; a second later his muscles bulged and veins popped up under his skin as he grew a size larger, he then walked over to a heavy crate and lifted it up over his head easily.

Todd sighed and looked away.

"Yes!" Harold laughed manically "Elixir is in business!"

"I can't believe my slime is used for this" Todd muttered "man I feel dirtier than usual" he yelped when Harold shoved the bottle in his hands.

"Keep it up Toad we're on a roll" he cackled and Todd put the bottle down.

"Look Harold I can't do this in one straight go yo, I need to rest my…err…slime organ…things…whatever makes the slime in me!" he declared and hopped down from the stool and walked to the door. "I'm off yo…ulp!"

The now monster of a door man stood in his way, and Todd shivered.

"Now now my dear boy, I understand it's pretty late anyway you go home" Harold smiled.

"What about my pay?" Todd demanded and Harold took out a wad of money and handed it to him, Todd ruffled through it and then shoved it in his pocket.

"See you later" Todd declared as he closed the door "Eeugh creep!" he muttered, he shuddered and began to make his way home. There was something about Harold that freaked Todd out, he wasn't a mutant as far as Todd knew but it was just the way he looked and spoke to him. He always looked like he had the upper hand and with the smug face someone would wear when they know they're going to win a game of poker but don't want to show it. What really creeped Todd out was how he talked to him, it was always so polite and sickeningly sweet it made Todd want to run into the nearest hot bath and scrub himself clean.

If he had his way he would run off and never go near that weirdo again but he couldn't now, it wasn't like before when he didn't have anything to loose now he had the others to worry about. Without him raking in the money they would starve and freeze to death. He sighed and patted his pocket where the money was.

"Oh well at least I get to eat now!" he sighed and with that hopped out of the slums as fast as he could.

Meanwhile inside the 'factory' Harold chuckled as he looked at the newspaper clippings he had of Todd during the sentinel incident. He looked in the background to see Lance and Fred in their battle out-fits clear as day, he smirked as he put them away again.

"There's money to be made out of these mutants, when the time is right I'll get all of them working for me but for now let's go get rich!" he declared as the door man packed the elixir in a van.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: as time goes by**

It was a few weeks now since Todd had been employed by Harold and for a while it was great, they ate three decent meals a day they got a wide screen TV and even a play station 2! Lance got his jeep refurbished and given a tune-up and Fred was able to improve and explore more with his recipes and food uses, his roast beef and Yorkshires puddings were to die for!

However after the second week Todd began to come home tired and thirsty he would down a two litres bottle of water before going to bed and sleep until noon the next day. Pietro would laugh and say that this was a bonus they were rich and they didn't have Todd under their feet.

One morning Todd came down and drank another bottle of water, he slumped onto the table and gave a groan Fred flipped a pancake onto a plate and put in front of Todd.

"Here you go!" Fred smiled and Todd looked at it and began to eat slowly, Fred looked at him oddly and surprised Todd when he gently put a hand on his cheek.

"What are ya doing yo?" Todd shrieked Fred rubbed his fingers together and then looked at Todd again who by now was staring at Fred strangely.

"Dude your skin is really dry" he stated "normally I would have got a handful of slime if I did that"

"Well it is summer maybe I'm just drying out"

"Dude if I didn't see you drink like 10 litres of water a day I would say you're de-hydrated" Fred muttered.

"Oooh feels like it too yo…I've got a thumping headache and my tongue is feels than a litter box!" his watch bleeped and Todd sighed "Better head off to work"

"Maybe you should call in sick; I mean you don't look too good"

"Hey I'm the Toad since when have I ever looked good?" Todd laughed and walked out to work.

Todd sat down and began to fill the bottles he finished one tray and stopped but just when he was about to get up and get ready to leave the Door man slapped another tray of bottles in front of him.

"Boss says you gotta do two more trays" he growled and Todd looked at it.

"I keep telling you I can't do it"

"You can and you will" declared Harold "if you don't you won't get paid!"

Todd glared at him and crossed his arms angrily.

"I'm sure your human friends will be very disappointed to learn you haven't got paid, you need the money I need the slime, now do it before I get my friend here to squeeze it out of some other way!" he sneered, Todd looked up sadly and sighed as he grabbed a bottle and filled it. Harold smiled and went back to filling the syringes.

It was late that evening when Todd got back, Lance looked at him as he stumbled past and then collapsed on the sofa. Lance went over to him and poked him only to get a small murmur of discomfort and Todd curling up more tightly.

"Lemme alone" Todd mumbled softly.

"Dude what's up with him?" Lance asked and Fred looked at him sadly.

"I think he's ill I mean is it me or does Todd sleep more lately?" Fred whispered "I think we should save what we've got and let Toad quit"

"Oh no,no,no,no,no,no!" Pietro cried and yanked them into kitchen "com'on we've got a good thing going here! We're getting rich and the X-men can't beat us up because we're doing nothing illegal to get it"

"But Toad…" Fred began.

"Okay let me put it like this, Fred are you hungry?" Pietro demanded.

"No"

"Lance are you cold?"

"No"

"Am I thirsty? No, and why is that because Toad is finally doing something right and we're finally got some money!" Pietro declared happily, Lance growled and dragged Pietro to the living room and pointed to the now sleeping Todd who sprawled over the sofa completely exhausted.

"Look I'm glad we've got the money too but look at him Pietro he's totally spent, he comes home every day and sleeps and then goes again, we don't even know what he does!" Lance declared.

"True but who cares?" Pietro grinned and zipped away, Lance groaned and then sat down next to Todd and flicked on the TV, a news bullet came on and Todd stirred and looked around bleary eyed.

"Huh?" he mumbled.

"You fell asleep on the sofa again…hey what's this?" Lance muttered and turned it up.

"A group of teens have been found dead in the inner city of Bayville; police say that they died from drug abuse. In the crime scene they found empty syringes of a drug called 'Elixir' a drug that can stimulate the muscles and strength…" declared the report lady showing a picture of the apartment.

Todd shot up and stared at the TV his hands were shaking and he clamped them together to stop them trembling.

"This dangerous drug is made from basic household chemicals except for one unknown substance which is the active ingredient for the drug, the police are looking for any suspects and are trying to find the source of this unknown catalyst, we will keep you informed and updated but until then back to you Dave"

Todd hugged his knees and felt tears prick his eyes, he killed some kids? He didn't think that anyone would be stupid enough to take an over dose, he trembled and got up.

"Toad you okay?" Lance muttered.

"No" Todd whispered and ran into his room.

The next day Todd had just left for work and Lance and Pietro followed him silently, they peeked from the bushes and Pietro blew away a leaf which had flopped on his forehead.

"Remind me why are we doing this?" he demanded.

"Todd was really shook up when he heard about that drug thing on the news and plus I want to know what Toad does for a living" Lance declared. They followed him all the way to the 'factory' and watched as he went inside; Pietro lugged Lance over his shoulder and ran up the building to a window where they could watch.

"Hello Todd ready to work are we?" Harold beamed and Todd nodded sadly he walked over to bottles and sat down, Lance looked down to see Harold put a bottle of slime in the machine and see the machine churn out some kind of goo into syringes. He pointed at one and nudged Pietro who in turn nodded and zipped down and grabbed one before Harold or the Door man noticed.

"What is this stuff?" Pietro demanded.

"Trouble"

"Let's get out of here!" Pietro muttered and with that they left, Todd watched as his friends' shadows in the window disappeared and he sighed sadly before starting to fill the first bottle. But something was wrong, he tried but nothing came out, he swallowed as he took a deep breath and focused. He tried again and this time a small amount came out slowly.

"This can't be good" he muttered after painfully filling the first bottle, how long could he keep this up?

Pietro and Lance returned home before they were spotted, all three stared at the syringe and Lance growled angrily.

"I can't believe it! Why on earth would Toad work for that freak?"

"Does it matter he's getting paid!" Pietro demanded.

"Yes it does, we don't do drugs! It just isn't right!"

"Hello this is the Brotherhood! We might as well have a sign or mat saying 'welcome to the Brotherhood leave you morality at the door'!" Pietro cried.

"So what was Toad doing anyway?" Fred asked

"We couldn't see he was sitting on a stool in front of a table but that's it" Lance muttered.

An hour later Todd came home he looked pale and pasty and his head throbbed horribly. He went into the kitchen and got a bottle of water out and closed the door only to find the other standing there.

"Oh hi guys" he muttered Lance slammed something on the table and Todd looked to see a syringe from work.

"Hello Todd maybe you'd like to tell us how you are connected to this" Lance said softly but sternly.

"Well…I…errmm…how did you get it?"

"We found at your work place, there were crates full of these Todd, why were you there!" he demanded angrily "Are you taking them?"

"No…" Todd said.

"So you're dealing them? Is that it?"

"No…" Todd cried.

"Then what Todd? What were you doing in a drug house?" Lance yelled, picking Todd up by the collar and lifting him up.

"I was making them okay!" Todd shouted and Lance shoved him away.

"What?" Fred demanded "You failed Chemistry a thousand times but you can make a drug?"

"No…it's just that…the news said that the drug had an unknown active ingredient in it right? Well you're looking at the guy who makes it. When I was wandering the streets as a kid he took me and taught me how to steal and stuff, when my mutant powers began to show he found that my slime can be used as a catalyst for Elixir, it 's like a steroid only ten times more powerful. I…I…I didn't want to but…we need the money and…" Todd explained.

"Toad I want you to stop, whatever this guy is doing to you is hurting you, I can't remember the last time I saw you catch a fly or hop…you're just not you any more" Lance said and Todd looked at them angrily.

"Since when have you guys given a flying shit on how I am? Look I'm pulling my weight I'm actually proving to you guys that I can do something right and now you want me to stop? I can't stop I…" he shouted but stopped when he started to cough loudly and he put a hand over his mouth and coughed hard enough that blood began to splatter his hand. He looked at his hand and then at the others.

"It's a bit fucking late for you people to care about me!" he whispered and with that leapt out of the open window…

He ran as fast as he could into the park and he collapsed coughing again, he huddled up against a tree and began to cry. A roll of thunder sounded across the sky and it began to rain softly, Todd looked up and sighed as he curled up not caring anymore if he got wet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Look what the Toad dragged in**

Lance wandered through the rain with an umbrella in hand, he knew that Todd was weak he wouldn't stand a chance if mutant haters found him or worse tried to kill him. Pietro was looking around the city and Fred was checking high school. Lance was about to turn around and go back when he heard a spluttering sob, he looked to see a little huddled figure soaked to the bone near a tree.

"Todd?" Lance called "Is that you?"

"Yeah…" came a whimper "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you" Lance said knelt down and held the umbrella over them. "Oh man look at you, you're completely soaked, nearest thing we're ever going to get to you having a shower huh?" he laughed but Todd looked away and Lance sighed at his pathetic attempt of getting Todd to cheer up.

"Look Todd we're know you're ill, and we know that whatever Harold is doing to you is probably the cause"

"Yeah Harold makes me churn out at least thirty pints of slime a day now, no wonder I'm so screwed up I can't make a slime ball now to save my life he's totally drained me out yo" Todd muttered "Hell my skin is as dry as anything cos my skin isn't making slime and …uugh" He moaned as he slumped to one side and Lance caught him "I'm totally spent y'know?"

"Pietro, Fred and me we've been talking and we think its best if…y'know…if you quit this job" Lance muttered and Todd looked at him.

"What about the money?"

"Look most of your debts have been repaid and every time you got some money I put half of what you gave me in the bank, I think I've got at least $2,000 saved up" Lance explained.

"A…and you won't chuck me out yo? Even if I'm useless in battle?" Todd mumbled and looked away and Lance ruffled his soaked hair.

"Dude that was Pietro talking, by his calculations if you can't run as fast as he does we're all useless" Lance laughed "Besides you are useful, for stealth and stuff I mean we would have never got our normal clothes back when the police were looking for us if you hadn't sneaked in and got them" Todd sniffed and smiled happily, Lance got up and brushed down his trousers.

"Come on let's head home" he chuckled and helped Todd to his feet, they walked home and for once Todd actually felt excepted.

The next day Todd walked to the factory and knocked down the door and looked at Harold angrily. Harold looked very flustered as he and the doorman started to pack away their equipment.

"Toad! Listen Todd my boy we need to get out of here one of my spineless fucking dealers grassed on us and we have to make tracks!" he cried grabbing Todd by the shoulders.

"Good cos I quit!" Todd declared "Just came here for my last payment"

"Oh really? You think you can just run out on me?" Harold laughed and held out his mobile "well let me tell you this little toady you won't be going anywhere!" he snarled and the doorman grabbed him when Toad tried to leap away.

"You can't make me give you the slime!" Todd cried angrily.

"Oh I won't be so sure about that!" he sneered and held up the mobile "The police are looking for the people who make the drug, and who better to blame than mutants? Right now there's a hidden batch of chemicals, your slime and a whooping big batch of elixir in your house, which I snuck in while you were all asleep" he explained and Todd looked up in horror.

"So imagine this, my boy, the police get an anonymous phone call giving them the names and address to the drug dealers and what a surprise it's at the Brotherhood Boarding House where the infamous Brotherhood of mutants live. With any luck someone might shot them!"

"You can't do that!" Todd screamed and wiggled as hard as he could.

"I can and I will, but only if you don't supply me with what I want!" Harold declared and Todd hung his head.

"I can't…"

"You can and will, maybe you would like to be put away for a while!" Harold declared and clicked his finger, the door man dragged Todd away as he screamed.

"My friends will come and get me! They're gonna kick your arse!"

"My dear boy that's exactly what I'm banking on!"

Lance looked out the window and Pietro paced back and forth while Fred sat there.

"He should be back by now" Lance grumbled.

"Wanna check on him?" Fred asked.

"You bloody well bet it" Pietro declared.

They walked to the ally way to see Harold standing there, Fred growled and towered over him.

"Where's Toad?" he bellowed.

"Come in we really should just talk about this, I think there's been a horrible mistake" he said gently and they walked in cautiously, the Door man slammed the door behind them. Lance spun around to when he heard rattling chains, Toad was tied to the wall and had duck tape covering his mouth.

"Let him down!" Lance roared and the ground rumbled.

"No" Harold declared "why would I let go my only trump card?"

"You do know we can kick your butt seven ways to next week don't you?" Pietro demanded and Harold just gave his creepy smile and pointed the gun at Toad.

"Yes well as fast as you are I doubt you can stop a flying bullet" he chuckled.

"I take that challenge!" Pietro exclaimed and Lance and Fred grabbed him before he gave Harold a reason to fire.

"So what do you want in exchange for Toad?" Lance demanded.

"Simple I want all of you to work for me, I could always use freak muscle, speed, and earthquakes when it comes to my business" Harold said calmly planting the gun gently on Todd's head, "it works well for you, you want to be with Toad and I want more workers. See we all win"

"Yeah except one thing we don't want to work for a scum bag like you!" Fred growled.

"Wait what's the pay? Do we get holidays?" Pietro asked.

"Pietro!" Lance cried "We're here on a rescue mission…remember?"

"Hey I'm just keeping an open mind that's all!"

"The answer is no pal, take your job and shove it!" Lance declared .

"Your funeral" Harold shrugged "or to be more correct his!" he pushed the gun harder into Todd's skull and then…

"click!" Harold froze and pulled the trigger again and again.

"Click, click, click!"

"Dude you don't think much of us do you?" Fred demanded, Pietro cackled and opened his hands to reveal a load of bullets.

"I might not be able out run a bullet but I can still steal from under your nose!" Pietro laughed. Lance growled and stomped his foot on the ground causing the earth to shakes, Harold stumbled and Todd swung at him and kicked him in the chest and sent him flying.

However he flew right onto a table with open syringes of elixir, Harold screamed as about five pints of elixir was pumped into his body at the same time. He stumbled down and collapsed on the floor shuddering, as Fred broke the chains off Todd and peeled the tape off.

"Well that take care of that problem let's go!" Pietro declared but as they headed for the door Harold got up, his skin bulged as muscles began to grow out of control, his whole body quaked and Harold's gurgling screams could be heard.

"Err…that don't look too good" Todd muttered a massive muscled hand lunged forth and tried to grab them.

A huge blood red creature twice the size of Fred loomed over them, veins pulsed horribley over it's taunt skin and ripples of muscles moved as the creature stood up. All that remained of Harold was an over stretched grin and a tuff of brown hair on top of a tiny head on a massive body.

"**What…h…have…you…DONE TO ME!!"** the creature roared and punched forward, Fred grabbed it and tossed it to one side, but it just kicked out and smacked him.

"B…blob DO SOMETHING!" Pietro screamed.

"Like what? It's been a while since I've taken down something bigger than me!" Fred cried.

"Well then let's chop it down to size!" Lance declared and held out his hands as the earth shook and buckled beneath them, Harold feet began to sink into the unstable earth and was soon buried. Toad and the others looked down the sink hole as the earth settled for a moment…and then began to move again.

"Lance please tell me you're doing that!" Todd whispered.

"Wish I could!"

The earth erupted up as Harold punched his way out; he clawed his way out of the sinkhole and roared. Todd looked up to see the chemical vat that laid there; he glanced to see that Harold was in the direct way.

"You guys get to higher ground!" Todd cried and hopped over the sink hole and grabbed a pipe that had snapped away from the wall, he began jabbing it into the vat until it slowly began to crack. Harold spun around to see what he was doing!

"**YOU!" ** He bellowed and grabbed Todd, yanking him away and squeezing him tight in his large claw. **"When I'm through with you there won't be enough slime to fill a tea spoon!"**

"Ya want slime yo?" Toad demanded "Then have all da slime you want!" and with that lashed out his tongue and cracked the vat open, the chemical sludge poured out and cascaded down the sinkhole. Harold stumbled trying desperately to keep standing upright, he slipped and crashed down into the hole as the slime poured over him, and Todd wiggled out of his hand and hopped away but began to slip in as well.

"Toad!" Lance cried and Todd looked up to see Lance hanging out of the fire escape.

"Grab my hand!" Toad lashed out his tongue and grabbed his hand and pulled himself up, they stopped and watched the last twitching remains of Harold sink into the slime pit.

"Well…that was creepy!" Pietro mumbled.

"Todd next time you want to get some money…just get a paper route or something!" Lance muttered.

4


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Endings for some, beginnings for a few**

"On tonight news, news of a police raid of a drug brewery have been reported in, evidence of the drug 'Elixir' have been found along with what has been found to be recorded details of dealers and drug bins all over Bayville. The police are rounding up all the people on the list for questioning; however there is no sign of the people responsible as there seem to be a massive sink hole leading to a number of sewers and drainages pipes. Perhaps an accident or an attempt to escape? We'll keep you posted and now for the weather…"

Lance turned off the news and smiled, Todd crouched there slurping down a massive milkshake and Fred sat on his sofa chair.

"Dude think we did the right thing calling the police?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, at least this way we don't have to worry about people thinking we did it" Lance chuckled "They think the sink hole was an accident done by the chemicals"

"Still…what about Harold? They didn't find him" Todd said "What if he comes back?"

"Dude the guy took a massive overdose he's probably dead!" Fred declared, just then Pietro zipped in.

"This is brilliant; now that all the dealers and that have been arrested we can start our own business!" Pietro cried and held up a piece of paper "It just so happens while I was getting all records of Toad out of the way I found a copy of the recipe for Elixir!"

"Didn't you learn anything from this?" Lance demanded.

"Come on all the ingredients we can get and we've got our own supply of slime alla Toad, we can sell it for double the price!" Lance snapped the paper out of Pietro hands and looked at it carefully.

"This thing almost got us killed and arrested, and since Toad is going to be the one who's putting his health on the line I say it's his call, so Toad what do you think?"

Todd looked carefully at it and then at the floor.

"Dude this stuff is poison and those kids died cos of me I say this…" and with that grabbed the paper out of Lance's hand with his tongue and ate it. "Good riddance!"

"TOAD!" Pietro cried "Think about this, the money…"

"Hey don't worry, yo' you'll get the recipe back, in a few days or so heh heh heh!" Todd cackled and Pietro looked disgusted and left, Lance smiled and Todd carried on slurping his drink.

"Good choice Todd"

"Why thank you!" he chuckled and bowed.

Meanwhile a hulking figure hid in the shadows, it was smaller than before but even so it was still a twisted gnarl of muscle of a person. It staggered in a stench of the sewers and hissed to itself.

"**My life and business is ruined and it's all those mutant freaks' fault…they're going to pay dearly for this mark my words that little slimy freak will pay!"**

To be continued…depending on how many reviews I get XD


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